Archives for August 2016

Success Does Not Happen Overnight

Posted on: August 25, 2016, in: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Overnight success” is a cliché we all are familiar with. But in the real world most overnight successes have put in their time and you don’t even realize it. For instance, most people look at the Beatles as an overnight success. Actually their rise to the top took approximately five years, thousands of hours of practice and hundreds of live performances. To think they didn’t put in the time and sacrifice to get to the top is shortsighted and wrong.

Their first UK number 1 was in May 1963 and their first US number 1 was in January 1964, but John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met in 1957. Thereafter, Lennon asked McCartney to join the Quarrymen, who, other than Lennon, were not very good musicians. In 1958, after lots of practice and many shows, George Harrison joined the group. By 1959, only the three future Beatles remained in the band.

In 1960 they renamed themselves the Beatles. After that they went to Hamburg, Germany for a good amount of the time between August 1960 through December 1962. During that time they lived in one cramped room with a bathroom down the hall and practiced for endless hours each day, while playing clubs at night. They put in hard work and sacrificed to improve their skills. Obviously it worked for them.

You are asking yourself, “okay, but what does this mean to me?” It is this type of investment in and commitment to whatever you are doing, whether alone or in a group, that gives you the best chance to succeed in any field. I could have told you the same story about entrepreneurs, professionals, etc. from every industry, but the Beatles work because everyone thinks their success was immediate when it wasn’t, and don’t realize the time and energy they invested in themselves leading to that success.

And that is the usual route. Hard work doesn’t guaranty success, but it gives you a much better shot. So plan your strategies for your business, career, networking, marketing, whatever you are doing, regularly and think long term. Ask most successful people you know and you will get a good story about what it took to reach where they are and that they continue to try to improve, because staying on top of the mountain is as hard as reaching the summit.

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Be on time

Posted on: August 18, 2016, in: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Be on time. Yes, it is that simple. Everyone’s time is valuable. We all have one more thing we can do before walking down the hall for that scheduled meeting or leaving to make it on time to that lunch meeting. What this really boils down to is that we all need to honor our commitments.

When you show up late you are saying “what I was doing is more important than being on time for you.” If it is worth scheduling, it must be worth showing up on time, right? If not, then you need to question why you scheduled the meeting. Sometimes it is not your choice and those above you require you to attend yet another meeting you think is a waste of time.

If that is the case you should think about what you are saying to your superiors by showing up on time or not (or not paying attention such as checking your phone…). If you are not showing up on time you may on purpose or by mistake be sending a non-verbal message about what you think. And that may stick in the mind of your superior and will it affect your ability to move up through the ranks in the future? Do you want to take that chance?

Like him or loathe him, Woody Allen has a great quote on this: “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Again, it is simple: be on time.

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Manage, Don’t Micromanage

Posted on: August 11, 2016, in: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some people who manage other people micromanage them because they have the need to control what their subordinates or employees do. There can be good reasons such as safety or training. Or maybe the end product is going out in the name of the higher up or under the name of the company they own or manage. In those cases the end product, whether a letter or a widget, reflects on the company, its owner or whoever is sending it out. But having control of the end product is different from micromanaging the process for that end product.

You may think you have the best way to manufacture the widget or are a better writer than whoever is drafting something your that will go out under your name. But if you train your people well and then let them control the process, amazing things can happen. George S. Patton said “If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.” This is how products or processes are improved because innovation happens when people have a starting point and an ending point, but also have the opportunity to think outside of the box.

So the next time you want to tell you employee or subordinate how to do something for you, maybe you should try telling them what you need and let them carve the path. You will either get the same end result as if you micromanaged them, or be surprised by what they come up with. Either way you get what you want, but one path leave the door open for innovation, as well as employees who know you trust them to do their job.

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Who is your customer or client?

Posted on: August 03, 2016, in: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Of course the answer to this question is dependent on what you do, but if you don’t start by answering this question you will miss out on opportunities. The answer, based on your line of work, may be a type or category of businesses or  categories or people.

Some sales people think the answer is anyone and everyone, but it isn’t. On the surface, if you are in pharmaceutical sales it is doctors or medical practices or if you are a pool installer it is home builders or homeowners. It is important to start with the big picture and then narrow it down so you can come up with reasonable marketing and networking strategies. If you are the pharmaceutical salesperson, your company may assist with this by assigning you a region of a city, state or the country and providing leads. If you are the pool installer, you have to choose the geographical area you can reasonably cover with your crew(s), let alone the number of projects you can work at one time without causing delay and upsetting customers, before deciding how to market to your audience of potential customers.

Some professions, including attorneys, accountants and financial planners, have a different answer. We all have the skills to help many types of businesses and people, but a wise man I know told me something years ago about who your clients are likely to be, which still holds true today: look in the mirror. What he meant is that you are naturally going to connect to people similar to you, whether in age range, family background, interests, etc. We all know personal connection helps or causes us to make choices a lot of the time.

Where this leaves you is to remember, no matter your business or profession, you need to have a plan and strategy for your marketing and networking. If you have no plan, you have no plan, and you will have hits and misses, though likely more misses, because you are leaving your business to luck or casting too wide a net (a wide net has large holes for potential business to slip through!). It also helps to put your plans on paper, with short term and long term ideas, plans and goals.

If you start by defining who is your customer or client and drill down from there you increase your chance for success. So start today because there is no time like the present!

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